Lifesaver

Rescue Tip-Board: Inflatable life raft

Introducing a life-saving product: the Rescue Tip-Board. Thanks to this inflatable life raft, the survival chances of drowning victims are considerably higher. They can be reached much faster and the emergency services can get to work immediately.

Life-saving innovation

Until now, firefighters had to swim to save someone: sometimes up to 200 metres from the shore. Then they had to get back, and with a drowning victim. So there was a danger of exhaustion and, what’s more, the victim could only be helped once they were back on land. Time for improvement: Safety Region Haaglanden (VRH) asked us to come up with a solution.

Clever: Tilting principe

We took a pragmatic approach and mapped the rescue procedure. We also brainstormed with VRH and HONOR Safety & Consultancy. We then made the initial prototypes, which we tested on the River Maas, next to our building. This was the prelude to the innovative breakthrough – the tilting principle: the raft tilts when you stand on the back of it. And that makes grabbing the victim really easy.

Rapid deployment

The next challenge: making the raft fully inflatable but at the same time sturdy. This means it can now be carried in a rucksack and can be deployed rapidly. And then we have the Seabob: an electric jet-ski. This pulls the life raft quickly to the drowning victim and back to the shore, where help can be administered immediately.